Matvei Smirnov

Quest Designer
+48 572 862 080
Warsaw, Poland

Summary

Ten years of GMing for TTRPGs and LARPs gave me an interest and experience in narrative as a core of the game experience. Pulled into game dev, I studied at FutureGames, where I got into the technical side, game engines and coding in Blueprints and C#. I started to specialise in in-engine implementation of quest systems and branching narratives, which led me to Quest Design. Instead of a graduation internship, I was mentored by a Senior Quest Designer from CD PROJEKT RED. I'm now looking for a role where a passion for narrative and technical craft can do real work.

Experience

Quest Design Mentee CD PROJEKT RED May 2025 – Aug 2025

Mentored by a Senior Quest Designer; created mock paper prototypes for quests set in existing CDPR titles.

Practiced quest scripting logic, objective flow design, and feedback-driven iteration.

Paper Design Intern Crazy Goat Games Apr 2025 – May 2025

Designed and iterated core gameplay mechanics and resource economy for an unannounced sci-fi economy strategy game.

Project Manager & Technical Designer Archibald Adventure Feb 2025 – Apr 2026

Unannounced single-player RPG (Daggerfall-inspired)

Leading a remote team of 10, establishing development pipeline and sharing design expertise.

Designing and implementing dialogue and quest tracking systems in Unity.

Managing system integration and cross-team dependencies.

Product Owner, General Designer Demand Dial Exorcist Oct 2024 – Present

3D first-person puzzle game (UE5)

Started as a school project (team of 12), now fully redesigned and in active development

Directed initial development: adapted the Mastermind peg mechanic into a core investigation loop.

Built initial prototype in 3 days; personally implemented ~50% of all game systems using Blueprints.

Redefined design pillars post-release; redesigned the project toward an immersive sim direction.

Overseeing engine migration to a newer UE5 version and full systems refactor.

Product Owner & Game Designer Wicked Tales May 2024 – Jun 2024

3D puzzle platformer (Little Nightmares-inspired)

Owned the full project backlog and oversaw implementation of all game systems.

Wrote linear dialogue and integrated narrative puzzle elements into level design.

Designed both game levels from concept to final layout.

Designed and implemented behaviour patterns for 3 enemy AI types.

Junior Game Designer Triternion Dec 2022 – Mar 2023

Unannounced survival crafting game

Designed first drafts for 5 core gameplay systems: Alchemy, Hunting, Farming, Cooking, and Building.

Developed a full progression system: 7 tiers, 5 locations, 50+ craftable items.

Maintained design documentation and balance spreadsheets throughout iteration cycles.

Skills

Languages

Education

Interests